District 76: Write-in candidate Winnie Brinks had to receive a minimum of 1000 votes in the primary on August 7 to get on the general election ballot in November, and she far surpassed that number, amassing more than 2,500.[1]

District 83: Republican incumbent Paul Muxlow escaped with a tight victory in one of the most anticipated races of the night, beating challenger Bob Eick 5,198 to 5,066.[2]

General election

House

District 63: Democrat Bill Farmer took on Speaker of the House Jase Bolger (R), who was embroiled in a campaign rigging scandal. However, Farmer was defeated.

District 76: Winnie Brinks (D) sought to capitalize on the same election rigging scheme that was embroiling Speaker Bolger, as she defeated Roy Schmidt (R) who defected to the Republican party just before the primary.

Campaign contributions

This chart shows how many candidates ran for state house in Michigan in past years and the cumulative amount of campaign contributions in state house races, including contributions in both primary and general election contests. All figures come from Follow The Money.[3]

Year

Number of candidates

Total contributions

2010

543

$17,146,452

2008

502

$15,640,045

2006

432

$16,212,812

2004

438

$16,209,181

2002

447

$12,625,867

In 2010, candidates running for state house raised a total of $17,146,452 in campaign contributions. The top 10 donors were: [4]

Donor

Amount

Michigan House Democratic Fund

$2,999,067

House Republican Campaign Cmte of Michigan

$578,118

Michigan Education Association

$245,350

Michigan Auto Workers

$194,240

Michigan Beer & Wine Wholesalers Association

$184,882

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan

$141,225

Michigan Farm Bureau

$139,250

Michigan Automobile Dealers Association

$138,675

Michigan Trial Lawyers Association

$130,650

Hammel Leadership Fund

$125,250

Qualifications

Section 7 of Article 4 of the Michigan Constitution states, "Each senator and representative must be a citizen of the United States, at least 21 years of age, and an elector of the district he represents. The removal of his domicile from the district shall be deemed a vacation of the office. No person who has been convicted of subversion or who has within the preceding 20 years been convicted of a felony involving a breach of public trust shall be eligible for either house of the legislature."

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Michigan's population fell from 9.938 million in 2000 to 9.884 million in 2010. The population was the most dense around the Detroit area and its suburbs in the southeastern part of the state. Whites comprised nearly 79 percent of the population, while African Americans constituted 14.2 percent and Asian Americans were 2.4 percent.[5] Population shifted from the city of Detroit to the suburbs; the city lost 25 percent o its population, while the suburban counties experienced growth.[6][7][8]

The state legislature is granted significant leeway when planning state legislative districts. Planners were permitted a ± 5 percent deviation in population in a district, which made the lower and upper bounds for the Senate 247,091 and 273,100, respectively. This deviation allowed for few counties to be split between senate districts.[9] The loss of population in Detroit meant that any redistricting that might be considered biased against specific racial groups could attract scrutiny from the Voting Rights Act. The Republicans proposed a state legislative plan that reflected the decline in Detroit's population, effectively removing two House seats and one Senate seat from Detroit's home county of Wayne. In addition, no Senate district would be entirely contained within Detroit proper. The House map suggested a continued majority for Republicans.[10][11][12] After incorporating some Democratic suggestions on changing Senate district lines near Detroit, both Houses passed the plan and GovernorRick Snyder signed the legislation, called Senate Bill 498, in August of 2011.[13]